We didn't plan on having a daughter with Developemental Disabilities. Mark & I planned on having brilliant children, gifted even. We wanted to have 4 or 5 children, but Teale happened & we knew our limitations. Those dreams seem so far away now. We may have been thrown into this world of special needs and mental illness but we chose to embrace the cause & the community. We chose to love & to learn. It is a cause I never knew could make me feel so passionate & empowered. Life throws you curves, but our "curve" is our heart & our soul. Teale needed to be, because without her, Mark & I would not know the community we embrace and love so passionately. RESPECT is the word. Live it, love it, be it!
I found this post on a Facebook memory. It is a post about pledging to end the R word. Ending the use of the word “retard” became a campaign a few years back. In my childhood, calling a person “retarded” was a common dis people would say to each other. Now a days, the world is more aware of being respectful and kind. Bullying is a hot topic and teaching children kindness is much more in fashion than when I was young. As kids, we often fended for ourselves and fighting amongst ourselves was just part of childhood. Parents didn’t get as involved back in my childhood. If there was an issue in a group of kids, generally our parents just told us to “work it out.” Words like retard and in my area, BOCES, was thrown around as an insult. BOCES is a local agency that provides therapists and supports for children with special needs. Something our family has relied on heavily. As a kid, I’m absolutely sure I had no idea what BOCES meant, but I knew it was meant as an insult.
Adults are much more involved in helping children to learn to be kind to each other, than when I was young. There is usually much more intervention when children are having difficulties getting along. Anti bullying is a common program in schools. I’m not sure if it’s because bullying happens more these days or because we are just much more aware. Internet bullying is more difficult to catch and commonplace because of being able to hide behind a screen.
So as I started this post, my point was, we didn’t choose to be a part of this community. Our Teale happened and we were thrown into the world of special needs. We learned how beautiful the people are in this community and we have become vigilant advocates of the special needs population. As a kid, retard was an accepted horrible name to call people. Now when I hear it, my heart sinks and all I can think is how sad it is that the person using that word, doesn’t understand just how beautiful love truly can be.
I found this post on a Facebook memory. It is a post about pledging to end the R word. Ending the use of the word “retard” became a campaign a few years back. In my childhood, calling a person “retarded” was a common dis people would say to each other. Now a days, the world is more aware of being respectful and kind. Bullying is a hot topic and teaching children kindness is much more in fashion than when I was young. As kids, we often fended for ourselves and fighting amongst ourselves was just part of childhood. Parents didn’t get as involved back in my childhood. If there was an issue in a group of kids, generally our parents just told us to “work it out.” Words like retard and in my area, BOCES, was thrown around as an insult. BOCES is a local agency that provides therapists and supports for children with special needs. Something our family has relied on heavily. As a kid, I’m absolutely sure I had no idea what BOCES meant, but I knew it was meant as an insult.
Adults are much more involved in helping children to learn to be kind to each other, than when I was young. There is usually much more intervention when children are having difficulties getting along. Anti bullying is a common program in schools. I’m not sure if it’s because bullying happens more these days or because we are just much more aware. Internet bullying is more difficult to catch and commonplace because of being able to hide behind a screen.
So as I started this post, my point was, we didn’t choose to be a part of this community. Our Teale happened and we were thrown into the world of special needs. We learned how beautiful the people are in this community and we have become vigilant advocates of the special needs population. As a kid, retard was an accepted horrible name to call people. Now when I hear it, my heart sinks and all I can think is how sad it is that the person using that word, doesn’t understand just how beautiful love truly can be.
